BOLTON’S well-loved Sainsbury’s café will officially be closing from tomorrow, Friday, with 200 of its other cafes expected to close across the supermarket network.

It comes after Sainsbury’s announced new plans to transform its eat-in takeaway, and home delivery food and drink offer.

The café at the Trinity Street branch, along with several others is expected to be closed from today.

Around 2,000 colleagues are likely to be impacted because of the changes.

Colleagues affected will be prioritised for vacant roles in Sainsbury’s stores and will be encouraged to explore alternative roles within the wider business. 

A total of 67 Sainsbury’s cafes will stay open while Sainsbury’s reviews rollout plans. 

A consultation is expected to take place with these colleagues, with the aim of redeploying those affected to other areas of their store where possible.

Sainsbury’s chief executive officer, Simon Roberts, said: “As we go through this period of transition, we have taken the difficult decision to close 200 of our cafes.

“We have spoken to all colleagues affected by these changes and are absolutely committed to supporting them in any way we can during this uncertain time.

“Of course, we understand this is very unsettling for our colleagues, but we must keep adapting our business to make sure we are offering customers the best possible food and drink at affordable prices.”

Sainsbury’s also announced plans to close less popular hot food counters in 34 stores and simplify the way it runs its bakeries in 54 stores, last month.

The transformation follows a successful trial of a new food hall format called The Restaurant Hub at its Selly Oak store in Birmingham.

Working in partnership with Boparan Restaurant Group (BRG), The Restaurant Hub at Sainsbury’s Selly Oak store offers customers eat-in, takeaway, and home delivered hot food and drink, from a range of popular brands - including Caffè Carluccio’s; Gourmet Burger Kitchen; Ed’s Diner; and Slim Chickens.

Sainsbury’s and BRG plan to open 30 more The Restaurant Hubs in the next year, with the intention to accelerate the roll-out in future years, if the format continues to be popular with customers.

At the same time, Sainsbury’s will also open a further 30 Starbucks coffee shops in its supermarkets in the next twelve months, bringing the total number of Starbucks in Sainsbury’s supermarkets to 60.

Working with BRG and Starbucks, Sainsbury’s plans to transform the eat-in, takeaway and home delivered hot food and drink offer, in 250 of its supermarkets over the next three years.

Find our which cafes will remain open here.